


A Relationship Without Trust

by hirusen



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Crucible (Destiny), Dark Past, Developing Friendships, Established Relationship, Gen, Identity Porn, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23221474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirusen/pseuds/hirusen
Summary: Shin's not sure what's happening between Drifter and his Ghost, considering what he knows about the relationship.
Relationships: The Drifter & Drifter's Ghost, The Drifter/Shin Malphur
Kudos: 26





	1. Little Light

Drifter didn't have these moments often. Ones where he shoots awake shaking, biting his lower lip until it bleeds to keep from screaming, eyes wild with fear. Shin knew better than to speak in those moments, just being a silent beacon of comfort and warmth, a hand always on the other man.

It took Shin longer than he wants to admit to spot Drifter's Ghost hovering nearby. It was always above their heads, right out of arms reach, its red eye focused on its partner. His own Ghost told him that Drifter's always has a high concern for the man when those moments hit; since Drifter still hasn't told Shin EVERYTHING from his past to know what causes them, forced to trust that the man's Ghost knew what to do when Shin was away.


	2. Attempt

The first time his Ghost came close to comfort him, Drifter slapped it away. "Fuck you, Ghost. I don't need your pity." He spat, shaking like he was about to die from the cold again. Despite his words, his Ghost floated back, settling down next to his Trust and closed its eye. Drifter felt as a tiny bit of his Ghost's Light bled into him, warming him.

It certainly wasn't as strong as Shin's burning Solar Light, but it was enough to lull Drifter's fears away. He said nothing as he laid back down and fell back asleep.

When his Ghost came a second time, Drifter glared at it, but allowed it to settle in the same spot as last time, feeling its warmth gently fading into him. "...I hate you." He muttered, falling onto his back and closing his eyes. Drifter always hated that his Ghost knew what he didn't want to admit, and gave him what he refused to ask for. He wasn't a weak man, but his Ghost made him feel like one.


	3. Strange

"Something's...different about you." Were Shin's first words to him after returning from a two week hunt. "Huh?" Was Drifter's intelligent response. "Normally, you're a frantic mess, clawing to get me in the bed. And yet I come back to you being relatively calm?" Drifter chewed on his lip; perhaps his Ghost was affecting him more than he thought.

"It's nothing, alright? I just didn't have any episodes while you were out." Shin shot him a look that said those words were the bullshit that they are, but was going to--thankfully--leave it alone.

Still didn't keep Drifter from clawing Shin into the bed though.


	4. Odd Occurrence

Shin stirred awake to an interesting sight: Drifter's Ghost in the palm of the man's hand. Its eye was closed and Shin could feel the Solar Light pulsing from it. He thought it odd, knowing that the man despised his Ghost, until he saw the gentle trembling of Drifter's body.

The man was having an episode, and his Ghost knew it and reacted.

Outside of knowing that Drifter doesn't trust any Ghost, and seeing that his own looked at him with a hopeful longing, Malphur has no clue what the duo was like before they first met when Shin was going by Dredgen Vale; he doesn't even know what gender Drifter's Ghost is, let alone how it used to sound. _What happened on that planet?_

Drifter keeps many things close to his chest and it took Shin **THREE** different identities before he had enough of the man's trust to know what he does now. That planet? His time during the Dark Age? Shin had no idea of what happened, and he knew he wouldn't know for a LONG time.


	5. Strange Sight

Drifter was strangely quiet during the meeting. Zavala wasn't sure what to think about that; Drifter was always one to loudly voice his opinion about things, much like Cayde-6 did, and just like the late Exo Zavala understood that something important to him was on his mind.

"You've been rather silent, Ming." Drifter glanced over to him then, a hand touching his mouth in thought. "Something you wish to say?" "Well..." The Lightbearer sat straighter, rubbing his beard as he tried to piece his words together. "The Hunter Vanguard position is still empty," The empty seat emphasized his words, "and I know you've offered it to several good replacements."

It was true. Zavala and Ikora have had no luck finding a replacement for Cayde. "What do you suggest then?" "Offer them only a part of the responsibility AND let them still roam free." The whole room was stunned. "You have to understand: Hunters enjoy being free to roam wherever they wish for how ever long they wish. No Hunter _wants_ to actively be tied down.

"But if you offer them a piece--a single piece--of Cayde's old duties, while still being free to do whatever, then you **WILL** find his replacement." "How can you be sure?" Ikora asked with understandable doubt. "Hunters will do whatever it takes to avenge a fallen comrade, it's in their nature, but what takes time is for one of them to properly honor the fallen's memory by taking their place. They have to give up basically all that they are to do this, and that scares them, but you give them different tastes of what Cayde ACTUALLY did, and one of them will be brave enough to take up the mantle of Hunter Vanguard."

As Drifter--or Wu Ming as he's known to the others--says this, his Ghost suddenly appears and rests on his left shoulder. To Zavala's and Ikora's shock, the man doesn't shoo it away. In fact, once he's finished speaking, he glanced to his Ghost and stays silent.

The second the word fallen left his lips in that context, a torrent of painful memories bombarded him. The only thing that kept him from having an episode here was the sudden, tiny weight on his shoulder and the warmth of its Light trickling into him. His Ghost always knew. Always. And while, usually, he'd just bat it away, this time, he allowed it to stay.

Allowed it to be his solid ground; to warm; to comfort him like Shin always has. They locked gazes and he hated the small joy in his Ghost's red eye as he allowed it to stay, but he didn't have a choice.


	6. A Lullaby

The fourth time Drifter's Ghost appeared to help him, Shin was there. The Man With The Golden Gun has been frantically doing everything he could to calm Drifter down, but nothing was working. Shin glanced to the red eyed Ghost and gave it a pleading look; while Drifter would respond horribly to his Ghost's comfort, nothing Shin could give has worked.

Eli watched as his Ghost floated onto Shin's shoulder before expanding its shell and a soft lullaby started to play. Shin watched the realization sweep across Drifter's face and slump his shoulders.

"...Y-You played that?" Shin glanced to the man's Ghost and saw it bob part of the expanded shell. It was a gentle tune one would think to hear from a child's music box, a song to help them sleep. What surprised Shin was that he could recall the song as well; it was always faint and always cut off when he got close to Drifter's little bunker, but he knew it.

A data pad plopped into Drifter's lap and a message was displayed; one Shin couldn't read, but the other could. His brown eyes grew wide as he read, mouth falling open. "I-I... I don't believe you." Drifter watched as his Ghost wrote out in the Cabal language: " _I don't need you to. It's the truth._ "

So every time the nightmares of that planet resurface, his Ghost would play the little lullaby Orin had written? Why? Why would he-- His train of thought was rapidly derailed at that moment.

He.

Its been a long time since he's called his Ghost 'he'.


	7. Fuck Up

The word escaped him again. He. It was a round of Gambit Prime, the Vex these Guardians targets, and Drifter was doing his normal thing. Then he said that he wished his Ghost hadn't poked through the Vex network, and calling it 'he' again.

_Dammit! What is wrong with you?_ How long has it been since he's called that fucking Ghost of his he? _Since that hell planet at least._ Centuries. He's been refusing to actually acknowledge his Ghost for **YEARS** and now he screws up?

Speaking of that damn Ghost, it pops up a moments after the match starts. "What?!" He barks, but his Ghost floats to his neck and pulses a little bit of Solar Light into him. "Get off me!" Drifter growls, violently smacking his Ghost away. He saw as its' shell drooped a little, like it was sad or disappointed.

"What, you thought we were becoming friends?! Hell no! Never in your lifetime will we ever be friends!" Drifter shouted, red in the face, and stormed off before his forced-upon-him-partner could react.


	8. A Challenge

No one could blame Shaxx for being stunned. Drifter certainly doesn't. He's the one always annoying Shaxx to play Gambit, not asking him for a private Crucible match. "And you're certain you wish for these rules?" "Are you gonna fight me or not?" Drifter growled, annoyed. Lord Shaxx just shook his head. "As you wish."

The Rumble match was set to take place on Gambler's Ruin--an arena gifted to Shaxx by Spider--with a few rules not offered to other Guardians. First, and most important, was that Drifter's Ghost wasn't allowed to heal him. Second rule was Drifter was allowed to use his Dark Age weapons instead of regulated ones (which included the ones he gives as rewards in Gambit).

Outside of that, it was a typical Rumble match: 20 minutes to get 40 kills. As the Derelict jumped to the arena, Drifter's Ghost was burning a worried look into the back of his skull, but he paid it no mind. _Shaxx trained as a Warlord AND Iron Lord. Not going to be an easy fight._

Drifter was by no means a stupid man, nor out of practice in combat. Holding his own against Shaxx wasn't the issue; that belonged to how he's gonna score enough kills to win. While Drifter tells anyone curious enough to ask that he was a Titan before turning toward the Hunter life, in truth he couldn't be caged into a single Class.

Drifter is a Risen from the Dark Age. There were no Classes neatly set: Titans tossing Novas, Hunters coming back from the grave like Sunsingers, Warlocks plummeting down from too many stories up, slamming into the ground with thundering Arc in their fists. It was chaos. Pure and simple.

He's tried out all the different Classes, and had found that the Titan and Hunter Classes did fit him well--hence the tale--but nothing felt comfortable or right. The Derelict dropped out of the jump and Drifter was ready to go. Suddenly, a message appeared on the monitor before him, this time in Common: ' _Good luck, Eli._ ' "Shut up."


	9. Fight Or Flight

Drifter pressed his body against the curved wall as tightly as he could, his Trust in his hands. _A few more shots and I'm done._ The score was close: Shaxx with 18, Drifter with 20. There was six minutes left in the match. _I might actually win this._ It's been a long while since Eli had an honest to God gun fight like this; and Shaxx was pissed.

Could Drifter blame him? No, not at all. After all, you'd be shocked as well if someone clearly acting as a Hunter using Solar suddenly dropped a Nova on your ass. _"That wasn't part of the rules we set."_ "You did say I could use my Dark Age weapons; that includes my Light." Drifter chimed into the private channel, hearing Shaxx growl before silence greeted his ears again.

Or as silent as it could be; the fucking whispers were back. They had been quiet after Dredgen Vale did whatever it was when he left, but using his Light must've woken them up.

The words they said were nothing new, but one line took away all of his attention: "I'm proud of you, Eli." It was the voice of his Ghost, ringing in his ear like tinnitus. It swallowed up every sound until the last second when he heard boots storming towards him overhead. A colorful word escaped him as he tossed a smoke two feet in front of him seconds before Shaxx's armored body barreled over the edge, triggering the bomb and blinded the much taller man.

Shaxx cursed as Drifter fell off his HUD's radar, hearing the man book it to the right and fired a blind round of his shotgun towards him. He either missed or clipped him, since there was nothing in the kill feed and didn't see the man once he could see again. Sprinting in the general direction Drifter should have ran, Shaxx slid through a sniper lane and barely survived the bullet to his shoulder, clearly meant for his head.

"Shit!" Drifter muttered as he pulled back into cover, staying crouched. Shaxx knew roughly where he was now, and having barely escaped the range of the Titan's shotgun left him with a sliver of life left. One hit from anything from Shaxx and he's gone. Drifter's Ghost appeared next to him then. "What?!" He hissed, but then saw that it was displaying the remaining time: 2 minutes and counting.

 _Do I risk moving or waiting it out?_ It was a tough call. Drifter had grabbed the last Heavy crate of the match and used his machine gun to mow Shaxx down twice; said man had a scout rifle that hit like a motherfucker and would undoubtedly kill him if Shaxx landed a shot. Switching his sniper to his cannon, Drifter checked his ammo and quickly reloaded his Trust.

Then he heard Shaxx move.

Of course that was what he was waiting on: a moment where the enemy isn't ready to respond. And then he heard it, the fast wind around Shaxx; in typical Titan fashion, he was going to bull charge into him with a shoulder charge.

Memories flooded into him as the fear of being cornered with unavoidable death had his blood screeching in his ears. Arc sung from his body as he snapped out of his hiding spot, a blade the length of his forearm gripped painfully tight in his palm and ripped it forward, straight for Shaxx's throat.

The man tried to skid to a stop to backup out of the range, but he wasn't fast enough and felt as Drifter's Arc severed through his shield and armor and then he was vaporized by the sheer power of the other Risen's Light. What caught Lord Shaxx's attention was the wild eyed horror in Drifter's eyes. His breathing was heavy and he could actually see the man's heartbeat going wild in his throat.

18 to 21. Drifter won. Shaxx's Ghost quickly rezzed him and the larger man jogged over to his opponent. "You alright?" Shaxx asked but Drifter didn't respond, having collapsed to the ground in a shaking, panting mess. It was mere moments before the man's Ghost appeared and wrapped Drifter in its Light, healing his injuries before tucking itself into the man's throat.

Shaxx felt his jaw drop when he saw Drifter raise a trembling hand up to his Ghost and press it closer to him. "I-I'll be ok. ...I'll be okay." Whether to himself or his Ghost, Drifter wasn't sure who those words of comfort were meant for.


	10. Confusion

Shin chuckled softly as he threaded a hand through Drifter's hair. Said man had fallen asleep at his work desk again, a few pieces of a scout rifle still tangled in his fingers. Grabbing a spare blanket, Malphur draped it across Drifter's shoulders, carefully removing the loose gun parts from the Lightbearer's hands, setting them on the desk.

"So...you wanna tell me why you and Eli are suddenly getting along?" Shin questioned, Drifter's Ghost appearing shortly after; a data pad appeared next to Malphur. _"Not sure. Accepted my comfort while you hunted. Relationship has been strange since."_ Shin cocked a brow at the Ghost.

"Strange how?" _"Accepts comfort sometimes, rejects others. Still see mistrust in his eyes, but also guilt."_ "Guilt?" Why that? Because Eli actually accepted his Ghost's help and, for a single moment, placed some trust into it? _Only thing that makes sense._ Shin sat on the bed, arms crossed, as another thought came into his head.

"Why did he accept your help anyway?" Eli's Ghost didn't have an answer. "...Why accept the comfort of something you despise, Drift?" He asked the sleeping man; even going through EVERYTHING he knows about Eli, nothing points to him ever accepting the help of his Ghost.

So why now?


End file.
